Battle Flags of Minnesota.

13th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment - National Flag

This 45-star silk flag and a regimental color were presented to the Thirteenth Minnesota on June 25, 1898, by the Custer Circle G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) from Minneapolis, while the regiment was stationed at Camp Merritt in San Francisco, California.

One of four Minnesota regiments organized to fight in the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Thirteenth Minnesota was the only one to see combat. Sent to the Philippines, it participated in the battle outside of Manila on August 13, 1898, served as a military police unit after the city surrendered, and for the next eight months campaigned against Filipino soldiers seeking independence for their country in the Philippine-American War. In October 1899, the regiment returned to St. Paul and Minneapolis, where it was greeted by thousands of onlookers and reviewed by President William McKinley and Governor John Lind.